1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hardware and software installation and maintenance, and more particularly to managing application threads.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer environments may implement multiple tiers. For example, FIG. 1 shows a “three-tier” environment including a client tier, an application server tier, and a resource manager tier. An application server 101 may access the resource managers 107 and communicate with clients 115 and 117 over the Internet 113. For example, the applications 103 on the application server 101 may support browsers at each client 115 and 117. In addition, the applications 103 may access databases 111 and 109 in the resource managers 107. For example, an application from the applications 103 on the application server 101 may access database 111 using the resource manager 107 to provide information stored in the database 111 to a client 117 (e.g., a web browser on the client's computer) at the request of the client 117.
The application server 101 may assign requests from the applications 103 to threads from a main thread pool 119. Threads may be components of an application that can run independently of and concurrently with other components of the application. The thread pool 119 may have a specified maximum number of threads. Applications on the application server may use the threads on a first-come, first served basis until all of the threads are in use. If one application uses up the threads in the thread pool, other applications on the application server may suffer from a shortage of available threads.